What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future
Every Friday and Sunday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 28 minutes
- Episodes
- 601
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Spotify Trapped
Spotify is shaping listening habits, so much so that musicians are shaping themselves for Spotify. It makes your musical world a little more prescribed, a little smaller.
If it feels like everythin…
00:26:39 |
Sun 08 Dec 2024
The Influencer Administration
From Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Donald Trump himself—the incoming administration looks like it will be populated with pitchmen and influencers. Will anyone take steps to divest from their businesses or avo…
00:29:05 |
Fri 06 Dec 2024
When Your Flight’s GPS Gets Spoofed
Anyone stuck in a knotted snarl of interstate clovers knows that GPS is both important and imperfect. But if GPS fails while you’re bringing a 737 in for a landing it could be catastrophic.
Why is …
00:26:25 |
Sun 01 Dec 2024
The Post-Election Social Media Wars
Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the number of users on Twitter—at its peak or …
00:27:40 |
Fri 29 Nov 2024
Is Sickle Cell Anemia…Cured?
Last May, a 12-year-old with sickle cell anemia was the first person to receive a new gene therapy to treat the disease. The process is painful, expensive, and still frightening and uncertain, but bi…
00:32:06 |
Sun 24 Nov 2024
What's Google Without Chrome?
The Department of Justice has released its recommendations for how Google’s monopoly on web search should be broken up. Top of their wishlist? Spinning off their web browser Chrome.
But with a new …
00:23:31 |
Fri 22 Nov 2024
The X-odus
Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter—er, sorry “X”—has been slowly deflating. But given that soon you’ll be getting yelled at by right-wing trolls directly from White House press briefings, and your da…
00:25:31 |
Sun 17 Nov 2024
The Manosphere That Delivered Trump Back to Power
Going on Joe Rogan’s podcast didn’t fit into Kamala Harris’s last month of campaigning, which consisted of a careful diet of traditional media and specifically selected appearances. It came up short …
00:21:42 |
Fri 15 Nov 2024
The Polls Weren’t Wrong
Many folks were surprised at how soundly Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the election, especially since they thought the polls made it seem like a coin flip. The problem is, that’s not quite w…
00:26:27 |
Sun 10 Nov 2024
Elon Wins
As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be. If his stint leading Twitter is any ind…
00:27:32 |
Fri 08 Nov 2024
u up? Go vote.
Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of “make a plan to vote” texts you’re receivi…
00:22:59 |
Sun 03 Nov 2024
What Elon Wants From Trump
How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so?
Guest: Max Chafkin, Bloomberg Businessweek columnist.
Want…
00:29:55 |
Fri 01 Nov 2024
Facebook for the Dead
He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else.
Guest: Tony Tran, senior tech editor at Slate and author of …
00:23:05 |
Sun 27 Oct 2024
Can TikTok Sway this Election?
This election cycle, TikTok has evolved into a news-and-politics delivery mechanism. Will it make a difference?
Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, reporting on TikTok and other tech for the New York Times.
W…
00:24:23 |
Fri 25 Oct 2024
How Secure Is Our Election?
America’s head of cybersecurity isn’t worried about the election being hacked or the results being tampered with. But this election cycle does have her worried for our democracy.
Guest: Jen Easterly…
00:33:10 |
Sun 20 Oct 2024
The Elon-Trump Alliance
Elon Musk went from voting for Hillary to supporting Trump so hard that he may have broken election laws. And with Musk influencing both on X and in campaign finance, Democrats are kicking themselves…
00:20:38 |
Fri 18 Oct 2024
23andMe...And a Looming Data Disaster
How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral? And if it goes under, is all of the genetic data it collected at risk?
Guest: Kristen V. Brown, staff writer covering health …
00:26:19 |
Sun 13 Oct 2024
Trump’s Crypto Gurus
The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run by any Trumps. The truth is even stranger…
00:23:03 |
Fri 11 Oct 2024
A.I. Goes Nuclear
Decades ago, Three Mile Island was shut down after a near catastrophic nuclear meltdown. So why is Microsoft paying over a billion dollars to open it back up?
Guest: Matt Reynolds, senior writer at…
00:27:28 |
Sun 06 Oct 2024
Helene Proves Nowhere is Safe
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe from its devastation.
Guest: Sarah Kapl…
00:24:42 |
Fri 04 Oct 2024
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